[PODCAST] The Role of Leadership in Digital Transformation

JSB Talks Digital Podcast #83

JSB Talks Digital is a weekly digital marketing and social media podcast hosted by author, strategist, consultant, speaker and trainer Joanne Sweeney-Burke. Each Friday Joanne shares her digital marketing and social media insights from her work as CEO of Digital Training Institute.

Social Media News

Facebook updates the News Feed algorithm, is this the end of organic reach?

What did you think about the Facebook News Feed announcement last week? If you missed it, you might want to check out this post from Mark Zuckerberg about what he calls ‘bringing people closer together.’

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Many marketers just like me weren’t so surprised with the implications of what he said, because organic reach has been reducing like the 2008 economic crash for quite a while. I’ve been saying for 18 months that “we need to pay to play on Facebook” but it seems we may now need to pay all the way for results.

This is great news for publishers as we can now add music to our videos and other content without infringing copyright, and subsequently having our posts taken down.

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Say hello to Google Pay

Google has announced the merger of all of its different payment services to create Google Pay. Android users may already be familiar with Android Pay and Google Wallet.

With the new system, payment information saved in your Google account will be available everywhere you use Google products: in Chrome for web purchases, in YouTube for renewing your subscriptions, in apps on Android for in-app purchases, and at retail outlets with NFC (near field communication) payments.

According to Google, apps like Airbnb, already support Google Pay, with more sites and stores set roll out soon over the coming weeks.

Interview | Paul Prior

In this episode, I interview Paul Prior, Managing Director of FTI Consulting.

I met Paul at Pendulum Summit in Dublin where Richard Branson was speaking. Paul and I took the opportunity to have a side-line conversation about digital transformation and the role of leadership in this process. Pendulum Summit is a major personal development event hosted by Frankie and Norma Sheahan.

Paul is a senior executive with more than a decade of experience in defining, leading and executing sustainable business performance improvement for global corporations. He has extensive experience in strategy formation and accelerated execution in innovation, digital, analytics, regulation and operating excellence and has worked in Ireland, the UK, the USA, South Africa and Canada.

Listen to our chat:

My favourite quote from our chat:

Shout-Outs: Three digital transformation case studies

In this part of the show I give shout-outs to individuals, organisations or brands that are remarkable online and worth talking about.

In this episode, I’m giving shoutouts to three organisations that have embraced digital transformation with gusto.

According to Cisco, by 2020 there will be 50 billion internet-enabled devices which to create an interconnected ‘Internet of Things’. These devices already exist and include mobile phones, connected cars, home assistants and fitness trackers which let’s be honest, are now common-day but invaluable.

1. The UK’s Met Office

The UK Met Office operates under the auspices of the Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Their digital transformation story has three elements:

Creating a point of difference through content strategy

One of the biggest challenges the Met Office has always faced is differentiating itself in a competitive market. Recent growth in new technology – an explosion of mobile apps, APIs, and even voice search – means data around weather has become much more accessible.

In the face of stiff competition, the Met Office set out to achieve a point of difference, focusing much more heavily on its content marketing efforts through storytelling.

One of the first steps was to determine exactly what everyday consumers want from the Met Office. Turning to analytics, it soon found that the answer is not simply data, but as Simon describes it, the “what, the why, the where, the when” that surrounds it.

Optimising digital content and creating new formats

Video is an effective tool for the Met Office and along with its mobile app it helps to differentiate itself from competitors. This is a very real issue for public sector organisations that find themselves competing with YouTubers and bloggers.

The app provides users with an updated weather forecast four times a day, and includes other innovative features like an interactive rain fall map and pollen push notifications.

The Met Office also optimises content based on different audience demographics, pushing out tailored infographics, videos, and blogs geared to people interested in seasonal or timely events, such as Glastonbury Festival or the pollen season.

Collaboration and digital education across the organisation

This transformation involved the digital marketing team working closely with everyone from scientists and forecasters to the observation and graphics departments.

For example, if the core digital team is able to determine that a specific area of content works well on social – let’s say satellite imagery, for instance – it is able to feed this back to the satellite team to help them better understand the type of information they should be sharing.

?️ Latest satellite image shows UK between weather systems as swirling low pressure moves into North Sea. Make the most of the sunshine ☀️ pic.twitter.com/S8dVmlUs89

2. Bank of Ireland

One of Ireland’s flagship banks, Bank of Ireland wanted to develop a retail experience on the campus of Dublin City University that would scale.

The Bank wanted to deploy interactive services and digital signage into its Dublin City University branch to engage more effectively with first-time account holders and give them a better customer experience.

Solution

BT worked with its partners to deliver a rich multimedia experience with interactive digital services that would stand out from the crowd in the competitive student banking market.

Results

It’s a new kind of retail banking. From the moment students interact with the screens, they engage with the bank in a way that can be measured and used to continually improve their customer experience.

3. Travelex

Foreign Exchange company Travelex’s approach to digital transformation is what I want to share from their experience. They believe that you can’t outsource what is core and strategic, and new capabilities lead to new products that become growth engines over time.

Travelex Roadmap

Their key principles:

Emphasise the long game while racking up quick wins.

Talk about speed, agility, failure, new capabilities, ways of working and collaboration like it’s going out of fashion.

Ask JSB

In this part of the show I bring the voice of my listeners onto the podcast.

This week I gave a presentation to a Board of Directors on their role in Digital Transformation and here is one question that emerged from that meeting.

“Do we need to hire a complete new cohort of staff if we decide to embrace digital transformation fully?”

I’ve chosen this question because it is one that I am asked frequently by decision-makers who openly admit that digital and technology is not their area of expertise. The answer is no. I always appeal to organisations to look at their existing staff and their skillset.

In this case it was a radio station. A company full of talented, content creators, skilled journalists and reporters, experienced in communicating the facts and representing the brand of that organisation.

Look to your own team, do a skills audit, develop a training programme and then and only then look at what new team members you need to hire. Everybody’s role in every organisation is transforming right now, so you need to start from within before going outside

Don’t forget if you have a burning social media or digital marketing question, simply click on digitaltraininginstitute.ie/askjsb and leave me a voicemail. You can also send me your question on any of our social networks

JSB’s Column | Why digital transformation starts with decision-makers

I am currently writing my book on Digital Transformation in the Public Sector with a focus on communications. So, looking at all aspects of digital comms – PR, social media, traditional marketing and campaigns, reputation management, policy communications, event management and digital marketing.

I’ve been working with organisations of every size for the past 10 years on their communications strategies but things have changed and are changing very fast. If you fail to embrace digital this year with a comprehensive strategy and a roadmap to achieve your objectives, you will be yet another year behind the curve.

You have to be best in class when it comes to digital. You have to be wholly customer-centric and that means having a mobile-first mindset, tracking the journey of your customer and giving them the content they are searching for online.

Let’s have a look at some figures which tell a story in themselves.

56% of executives believe that a lack of digital leadership to define a clear and concise strategy is one of the key barriers when it comes to delivering an improved customer experience through digital transformation.

85% of enterprise decision-makers say they have a time frame of two years to make significant inroads into digital transformation or they will suffer financially and fall behind their competitors (Source: PWC)

25% of companies have a clear understanding of new and underperforming digital touchpoints (Source: Altimeter Group)

In other words, many companies report they are undergoing digital transformation even though most don’t know how to go about it.

Joanne is a digital marketing and social media consultant, trainer and international speaker. She is currently working on her second social media book and holds 11 professional and academic qualifications, including a Masters Degree in Journalism and a Masters Degree in Digital Marketing. Joanne loves to empower her clients with knowledge and skills to equip them in the digital age. Be sure to follow her tweets @tweetsbyJSB.